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Other
Areas Summary Allerdale,
Ards, Babergh,
Broxbourne, Cambourne, Castle Morpeth, Cheltenham,
Dartford, Daventry, Deeping, Didcot, Dunmow, Dunstable,
Ealing, Easington, East
Northant's, Ely,
Flitwick, Flintshire,
Fowey, Grantham,
Great
Yarmouth, Hackney, Harpenden,
Harrow, Holme
Pierrepont, Hungerford,
Kerrier,
Lambeth, Lee Valley,
Lewisham,
Lilleshall,
Maldon,
Milton Keynes, Mole Valley,
North
Kesteven, Oadby, Penwith,
Sleaford, South
Bedfordshire, South
Kesteven, South Norfolk, Spalding, St Albans, Stansted, Swale,
Three Rivers, Tunbridge
Wells, Uttlesford,
West Devon, West Berkshire, West Lindsey, Wokingham,
Worcester, Wycombe, Wymondham
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..
Looking at standards and raising the game since March 2004
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Leisure
Connection Watch
Last
updated: 3 May 2008
Note - LCW has a new email adress
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Downloads from Other Sites
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Fitness Industry Association Code
of Practice
Office of Fair Trading Guidance
on Unfair Terms in Health and Fitness Club Agreements
Department of Health Exercise Referral Systems:
A National Quality Assurance Framework
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Contacting
LCW Publicising
LCW How
To Complain about Your Leisure Service
Tips
on Searching the Web
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The
Leisure Connection Dossier - Issue
5
With
so much information about LC on this website it can be time consuming
finding the leading items. Now you can download
a Word document with key reports about LC. The dossier refers to Audit
Commission, council and media sources. Items are listed under
headings that include Problems with Council Contracts, Health &
Safety, Cleaning & Hygiene, Maintenance, Staffing, Price
Increases, and User Contract Issues. The current version is Issue
5, published 8.10.07.
Index for Headings from January 2007 till now
Headings
from 2006 Headings from 2004 to
2005
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Dates
on left are when items were added to LCW.
Dates on
right are when reports first appeared.
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| 25.4.08 Lee
Valley - Paper reports pool looks set to close 24.4.05 |
| 14.4.08
LC Owner for Sale - LC and other interests
have "struggled"
says Sunday Times
13.4.08 |
| 02.4.08 Advertising
Standards Authority slams LC's science but dubious claims continue 2.4.08 |
| 02.3.08 South
Beds - Cleaning and Staffing Issues Listed in Council Report 28.2.08 |
| 02.3.08 Grantham -
"Intimidating call" allegation and other issues
29.2.08 |
| 20.2.08 St
Albans - PR Disaster as Newspaper Calls Bluff on "Ultimatum"
20.2.08 |
| 18.2.08 Lee
Valley - Local paper identifies "A
catalogue of concerns" 15.2.07
The Concerns include
cleanliness, no evidence of safety checks, staffing and training
worries raised "consistently", high levels of bacteria,
excessive chlorine, and pool water testing equipment in "very poor condition".
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| 15.2.08
Brent - Maintenance including a year without replacement
for sink unit |
| 15.2.08
Harrow - LC backed leisure centre plans attacked
by Sport England and Sports Council
Feb 2008 |
| 11.2.08 Deepings
- "Girls getting changed in the dark" but no longer
"dangerous"
11.2.08 |
| 11.2.08 Same
issues but new PR Company for LC 24.1.08 |
| 11.2.07
Wake up and smell the snake oil
21.1.2.0 |
| 21.12.07 Brent
- Willesden Leisure Centre PFI Hype vs. Reality 21.12.07 |
| 20.12.07
Dunstable - 1000 signature protest against
LC ban 11.12..07 |
| 18.12.07 Lee
Valley - LC declines to comment on complaints of filth, smells, and snubs
my manager 7.12.07 |
| 18.11.07
Cambourne - Start of construction of new sports centre
by LC to be delayed 6 months 14.11.07 |
| 10.11.07 Private
Eye Reports on LC
9.11.07 |
| 15.10.07 Brent
_Sign
of the Times - photograph October
2007 |
| 8.10.07
Brent- Councillors "disappointed" with
new contract ; Customer satisfaction down 19%
11.9.07 |
| 3.10.07
Dunstable - Organizer suggests operational failings
by LC 20.6.07 |
| 29.9.07 Grantham -
Five letters to editor complaining about cleaning, timetables and poor
consultation Aug & Sep 2007 |
| 26.9.07
Oadby - A user writes to press saying she is not aware
of improvements claimed by LC 21.9.07 |
| 25.9.07
Castle Morpeth - Consultants find major failings
by LC including "painfully slow" responses April
2007 |
| 23.9.07
Oadby - LC Fined £2500 for failing to clean pools
properly 15.9.07 |
| 3.9.07 Grantham -
Swim Club Fees up 25% in three years and not negotiable 6.3.07 |
| 29.8.07
Oadby - Audit Commission finds declining use despite
LC's 2005 plans to grow customers by 25% July
2007 |
| 29.8.07
Castle Morpeth - LC pays "substantial penalty"
for "performance failure" March
2007 |
| 27.8.07
Cambourne - claim that sale of LC will not effect
construction of new sports centre 15.8.07 |
| 27.8.07
LC
staff views on company's sale sought - external link 23.7.07 |
| 24.8.07
LC's websites - Survey finds 8 out of 11
have no bank holiday information 24.8.07 |
| 24.8.07 Grantham - Petition against poor cleaning and
timetabling 23.8.07 |
| 24.8.07
Dunstable - 1700 sign petition after LC
stop local event
July 2007 |
| 23.7.07
Brent - Maintenance issues - pictures
23.7.07 |
| 15.7.07
LC
for sale for "up to £50 million"
15.7.07 |
| 10.7.07 Lilleshall
- LC's "contract poor and not cost effective" 27.6.07 |
| 8.7.07
Brent
- Showers to go out to tender / pool vacuuming sucks 8.7.07 |
| 8.7.07 Harpers' 7 for
7 deal - where are the terms and conditions?
8.7.07 |
| 8.7.07 Oadby
&
Wigston - Council "pressure" increases LC's maintenance
22.8.06 |
| 25.3.07
Dunmow
- "Public swimming takes a nosedive"
10.5.07 |
| 23.5.07
Three Rivers - LC's Data Collection Queried
18.4.07 |
| 20.5.07
Lambeth
- LC owed Council £103,533.38 in February 2007 18.4.07 |
| 20.5.07 Ely
- Disabled customers complain about lack of repairs 12.4.07 |
| 2.4.07 Lambeth
- Streatham - "Filthy swimming pool, mouldy walls & ageing gym equipment"
13.3.07 |
| 2.4.07 Lambeth -
Brixton users unhappy with gym equipment, state of centre & security
March 2007 |
| 25.3.07
Lambeth - LC contract ending with confusion and
let down for users
8.3.07 |
| 13.3.07
Spalding - "Destined to fail if they continue to run things this
way"
13.3.07 |
| 6.3.07 Brent
- Open Letter to Cllr van Colle re. showers still failing after six years
6.3.07 |
| 3.3.07
West Berks - LC loses contracts to Parkwood
27.2.07 |
| 3.3.07
St Albans - Senior numbers down since price
increases 1.3..07 |
| 23.2.07
Easington - Councillor finds 50% machines broken,
full ashtrays & "deplorable" kitchens 15.2.07 |
| 21.2.07
Easington -
Complaints about second hand gym equipment
29.1.07 |
| 20.2.07
LC
and Danoptra Company Accounts
2005 |
| 8.2.07 St
Albans - "Severely neglected" cramped pool with only one
lifeguard
8.2.07 |
| 5.2.07
St Ives - Another Clissold Type Disaster?
5.2.07 |
| 1.2.07
St Albans - Councillor and children denied use
of loo by LC |
| 1.2..07
Uttlesford - Algae stops play on tennis court
2.2..07 |
| 30.1.07
Is or isn't LC for sale? - Contradictory views
of senior managers 30.1.07 |
| 26.1.07
LC
's
owners post loss of £82 million 26.1.07 |
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20.1.07
Grantham - User protest forces LC climb down on
job cut 13.1.06
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13.1.07
LC
and Danoptra accounts listed as "overdue" at Companies House
13.1.06
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13.1.06
Grantham - Highly popular fitness instructor
faces redundancy
13.1.06
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9.1.07
LC to be sold as Danoptra denies financial problems
9.10.06
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6.1.07 Great
Yarmouth - Marina Centre doing better as Trust 5.12.06
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6.1.07
Lambeth Council "pursuing senior
managers" of LC over debt now totaling £33k 7.12.06
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Headings
from 2006 Headings from 2004 to 2005
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How
you can help LCW
Send information
and copies of complaints. I am interested in any information that relates to
the performance of LC. For details see Contacting
LCW.
Publicising
LCW
Want to help
to publicise the website? Check if your local media, Council leisure
officers and councillors are aware of it.
Make it known to leisure centre users, sports clubs and local area
websites. You can either:
Copy and paste Leisure
Connection Watch onto other website pages and add to html emails or
For plain text emails,
newsletters etc. copy and paste: You can find
"Leisure Connection Watch" by entering those words into Google.
Thanks
to Contributors
Thanks for the
encouragement and items sent to me by dozens of people concerned about the
standards of LC. I also appreciate the people who have
pointed out typos and faulty links. If you want your name listed here
as a contributor, please specifically authorise this.
Donations
Until 2006 no donations
were sought as the current website comes as part of my ISP package and it
doesn't feel like a "cost". More recently I have incurred expenses
with some councils when making Freedom of Information requests. If you
wish to send money, please make clear that you have no business or employment
links to any LC competitor and specify what, if any, publicity I might give to
your support.
With sufficient,
independent funding I happily would set up a "Leisure Watch"
website, reporting issues on all leisure providers. While my time is unpaid my focus
will remain on LC and others who may be dissatisfied with their local
contractors will need to run their own campaigns.
Thanks to Neil
Hutchinson for his financial
support of LCW.
Paul Burns
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